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I DON'T WANT YOUR EXCUSES!

Or, are your excuses for not writing actually legit?

Like, okay, sometimes my attention span is non existent. I'll open up a document, write four words, and then I'm just... Ooh! I should watch/read/browse that thing! After an hour's "break", I'll write another sentence and phew, you know, I should go and play my violin for an hour because that's what good musicians do. Honestly, even as I write this post I've got a TV show on in the left hand side of my screen, a number of tabs open in my browser, a burning need for a cuppa aaaaand...

Yes, I stopped writing this post and went to make tea. #TheStruggleIsReal

In all seriousness, sometimes there are really good reasonsfor you to not be writing. Other times, however, there aren't. The only thing standing in your way is you. And the only person to get you out of your own way is you. It's why doing things like Camp NaNo are so great for accountability. You have to hit your target. If there isn't a big event on, find a friend you can write or edit alongside and use teamwork to motivate each other.

Self-motivation isn't always the easiest thing, but this is bottom line: if you don't sit down and write and/or edit, your book will never be finished. Is that what you want? Nope! So examine your excuses, accept the good reasons for not writing and get rid of your lame excuses.

Comments

Haha, I was just having this convo with one of my friends yesterday. He keeps saying he should write, but he always finds a (lame) reason not to. Not that I'm any better - half the time I should be writing I'm distracted by shiny things :)

This post is so true! And it's why I'll always be so thankful for NaNoWriMo. For years I wanted to write a book but I would come up with a thousand reasons that I couldn't, in the end that's all they were, excuses. Six years later I've written over half a dozen books and I try to make time for writing everyday. Great post! and I love the mug!!

Yep! I get asked several times a day how I write so much, but it really is this simple. I don't write 5-10K a day, but I do write every day, even when there's a squirrel outside the window and the internet's being shiny and interesting. :P